Sending a video interview as part of the recruitment process is going to be common place in the near future so I thought I would discuss the hot topic of discrimination and the video interview.

Are employers more likely to discriminate based on physical appearance such as race, gender, disability or age when presented with a video interview?

In short the answer is yes there is a possibility that an employer could be discriminatory when presented with a video of a candidate however, and this is a big however, it does seem to be forgotten that they could also be discriminatory when reviewing a paper CV or seeing a candidate in a face to face interview. In essence the use of this modern technology makes no difference to the actual integrity of the process.

The video interview does have one huge advantage over traditional recruitment methods……it records and stores all the video clips and therefore by having an audit trail is more likely to stop someone being discriminatory.

One has to question the companies who are pushing against the introduction of video interviews as part of the recruitment process - are they the ones who possibly know their recruitment processes would not stand up to interrogation on these matters?

Talent on View is not designed to remove the face to face encounter an employer has with the candidate - we are providing a facility to enable all parties involved in the the recruitment process to have a more streamlined approach and use this amazing technology to make processes quicker and easier. If an employer is going to be discriminatory they will be at all points of the process be it reviewing a CV, video interview, face to face interview  - this is unavoidable and it is hoped that any employer in 2008 would recognise the disadvantage they are putting themselves in by excluding a large and highly skilled proportion of society.

Some companies use Talent on View video interviews to identify diversity candidates in a positive way. There is also the belief in many circles that video interviewing can help demystify preconceived stereotypes especially for transgender individuals and people with disabilities. If you are someone with a disability which also has a certain stigma attached to it a video interview can be a huge advantage. An employer might be more willing to meet with you after viewing an interview and removing the assumption based on the stigma. Employers need to remember the definition of a disability under the DDA Act and the fact a disability isn’t always visibly apparent. 

Similarly, an employer could make discriminatory assumptions based on the candidate’s paper CV.  Details such as name, education and hobbies can give clear indications of race, religion, disability and age and therefore discrimination could apply in these cases. This is where Talent on View can give the candidate an advantage - if the employer, who would normally make these assumptions and exclude accordingly, was given the opportunity to make a more informed decision using a video interview the outcome is likely to be different in favour of the candidate. This also has advantages for the employer - the talent pool is small, especially in highly skilled job roles and by having a facility that enables candidates to have ”inclusivity” opens up a larger pool of talent.

With the Talent on View application we have ensured the employer is not allowed to view the candidate videos until they have checked a box asking them to adhere to the legislation in place - if they do not agree they can not proceed to view the candidates. This won’t stop someone who is normally discriminatory but it may trigger a question in their owns minds and possibly open up their minds - with the traditional interview there is no check box.

To sum up, if an employer is going to be discriminatory they will be at any point of the recruitment process so the question asked at the beginning of this post :-

Are employers more likely to discriminate based on physical appearance such as race, gender, disability or age when presented with a video interview?  

The answer is no they are not more likely to discriminate when presented with a video interview - it is quite right to say though it is likely they will be continue to be discriminatory at all points of the process if that is their modus operandi.

Bye for now

Lisa

Tags: discrimination, video CV, video interview, video recruitment